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By Dante Alighieri $21.57
By James Joyce
$13
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 maxintosh (CC BY 2.0)
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After spending an estimated $20 million and employing 77 people full time to ban gay marriage in California with Proposition 8 in 2008, the church’s political surrender on the issue has enabled a cultural shift that is spreading rapidly across the United States.
Posted on May 14, 2013
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 AP/Pablo Martinez
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By Bill Blum — Nevertheless, the Supreme Court’s likely rulings on the issue of gay marriage will not be complete victories for those who support allowing same-sex couples to wed.
Posted on Mar 27, 2013
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One of the top arguments that those who oppose allowing gay couples to wed routinely give is that it would be a “threat” to the marriage of straight couples. What happens when attendees at an anti-marriage equality rally Tuesday were asked about it, however, paints a different picture.
Posted on Mar 26, 2013
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments in the case concerning Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that bars same-sex couples from marrying in the state.
Posted on Mar 26, 2013
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Roberts’ cousin is a lesbian who wishes to wed her partner. She currently can’t, however, because of Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that bars same-sex couples from marrying in the state. The Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to Proposition 8 this week.
Posted on Mar 25, 2013
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 Miserlou Behind The Aperture (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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The man who has played the good, the bad and the ugly both in Hollywood and American politics has come out in favor of same-sex marriage as he added his name to a legal brief calling on the Supreme Court to strike down a ban on such unions.
Posted on Mar 1, 2013
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 AP/Ben Margot
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This week, dozens of influential conservatives will submit a legal brief asking the Supreme Court to strike down Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative passed in 2008 that outlawed same-sex marriage in the state, and all other similar bans.
Posted on Feb 26, 2013
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A look at the day’s political happenings, including President Obama’s picks to round out his national security team, Hillary Clinton’s first day back at work since suffering a concussion and Donald Trump running his mouth again.
Posted on Jan 7, 2013
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 Screenshot
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The conservative justice weighed in on same-sex marriage in the landmark Lawrence v. Texas ruling in 2003 that outlawed anti-sodomy laws.
Posted on Dec 10, 2012
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A look at the day’s political happenings, including Newt Gingrich’s 2016 presidential election prediction and the big political decision Cory Booker is weighing.
Posted on Dec 9, 2012
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 Lena/OnTask (Creative Commons)
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A look at the day’s political happenings, including the Wisconsin recall election, the next step in the battle to legalize same-sex marriage in California and Bill O’Reilly’s election prediction.
Posted on Jun 5, 2012
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On March 3, director Rob Reiner led an all-star cast, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon, Martin Sheen and Jamie Lee Curtis, through Dustin Lance Black’s play “8,” about the court battle over marriage equality in California that was set in motion by the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008.
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 AP / Eric Risberg, Pool
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Just in time for a certain prefabricated, romance-related holiday that shall remain nameless, we offer you a little valentine (oops!) of our own with a Truthdigger winner who truly brought the love in one inspiring gesture he made in a federal appeals court, of all places.
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 AP / Ben Margot
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By Bill Boyarsky — In throwing out California’s notorious Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, appellate Judge Stephen Reinhardt showed the heart of a romantic and humor in a ringing defense of the often-scorned institution of marriage.
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 White House / Pete Souza
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It’s an election year, so it’s time to play wedge issue roulette. Which culture war favorite is it going to be this time? Gay marriage? The Obama administration’s recent and contested decision to require Catholic organizations to provide birth control coverage to employees? Updated
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 AP / Jeff Chiu
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Here’s some real progress and some good news: On Tuesday, a federal appeals court in San Francisco decided, in a 2-1 ruling, that California’s infamous Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban approved by voters in 2008, was unconstitutional. Now, on to the Supreme Court.
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 sushiesque (CC-BY)
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The sponsors of Proposition 8 and other contested laws are entitled to defend such measures when the state refuses to do so, the California Supreme Court declared Thursday afternoon. The ruling could push the long argument over same-sex marriage—which has wearied its proponents and adversaries—to the desks of federal judges, including those on the U.S. Supreme Court.
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 AP / Charles Dharapak
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By The Rev. Madison Shockley — A candidate’s faith does in fact matter, especially when the religious institution to which he or she belongs is involved in explicit political campaigns that affect millions of lives. Such issues as civil rights for women, immigrants and the LGBT community come immediately to mind.
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 Wikimedia Commons
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Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled California’s Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional. Shortly afterward, opponents of same-sex marriage called the ruling invalid, arguing that Walker’s homosexuality made him unfit to adjudicate the case. On Tuesday, another federal judge threw that argument out.
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.jpg) Flickr / Andy Birkey
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A legal motion filed Monday questions the impartiality of the judge who overturned the California Marriage Protection Act. (more)
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 Flickr / laverrue
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Same-sex couples hoping to tie the knot soon in California are going to have to wait awhile longer: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday rejected a request to allow gay marriages to continue as the long-term fate of Proposition 8 remains to be seen.
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 Wikimedia Commons / David Shankbone (CC-BY-SA)
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Screenwriter and director Paul Haggis’ public exit from the Church of Scientology continues with a long exposé in this month’s issue of The New Yorker, in which Haggis describes his troubled early years, his initial embrace of L. Ron Hubbard’s religion and the fallout ...
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 Illustration by Jennifer Grey
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The path out of the proverbial closet is still riddled with potential career pitfalls for gay actors, according to veteran screen star Richard Chamberlain, who himself came out in 2003 but, as he tells The Advocate, wouldn’t recommend that closeted actors angling for leading roles follow his example.
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 AP / Jeff Chiu
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The celebration about U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling overturning California’s Proposition 8 hardly got under way before a trio of federal appellate judges put the kibosh on it all on Monday by putting gay marriage on the shelf for the time being.
Posted on Aug 17, 2010
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 AP / Eric Risberg
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By Bill Boyarsky — When public discourse is so dominated by hysterical sound bites of religious intolerance and xenophobia, it is inspiring to read federal Judge Vaughn R. Walker’s ruling overturning Proposition 8, the California voter initiative banning same-sex marriage.
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 abcnews.go.com
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Author and vampire enthusiast Anne Rice raised more than a few gothy eyebrows a few years ago with the revelation that she had become a practicing Christian. Well, that’s changed now.
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With the job market in a scary slump and a slow economy to boot, President Obama may be in for a politically treacherous time. Is Prop. 8 a human rights or a moral issue? And what’s with all the hubbub about Michelle Obama in Spain?
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 mormonproposition.com
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Those of us who were in California during the election of 2008 (and many who weren’t) remember how quickly the tide seemed to turn when it came to the expected versus real outcome of the Proposition 8 vote ... (continued)
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 Flickr / laverrue
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California’s a place that may seem a little kooky, a little crunchy, and definitely more than a little liberal when viewed from some other areas of the nation, but when it comes to the issue of gay marriage, it has yet to catch up with Iowa. Or Spain.
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Boy, that Justin Long has come a, uh, long way since his early “I’m a Mac” days. Why, here he is, joining the ranks of other allegedly straight actors who’ve played it gay in this humorous (and racy, workplace viewers!) PSA aimed at overturning California’s Proposition 8.
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 AP / Mike Groll
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By Scott Tucker — We won’t wait for the charity of corporate donors, or for the timelines of politicians. If such people care to donate funds or even to take the risk of civil disobedience, they are welcome to join us. On our own terms. But the time when gay people were grateful for small favors is over.
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When you’re in a movie about a countercultural figure as big as Allen Ginsberg, it’s going to be hard to avoid the political questions, and “Howl” stars Jon Hamm and James Franco, who plays the Beat-era poet in the film, were ready to hold forth at the Sundance Film Festival about one prominent political topic of our time: California’s Proposition 8.
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 noh8campaign.com
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As her daughter Meghan did before her, Cindy McCain, registered Republican and wife of Sen. John McCain, has lent her well-known visage to the NOH8 campaign that began after the passage of California’s Proposition 8 in November 2008. The campaign’s organizers expressed their surprise that Cindy was willing to do so and gave her props for her bid to “show people that party doesn’t matter.”
Posted on Jan 20, 2010
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 AP / Marcio Jose Sanchez
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By Bill Boyarsky — Why should we care about the Proposition 8 same-sex marriage trial in San Francisco? Most people aren’t gay or lesbian. Many think marriage is unimportant. Others feel Afghanistan, unemployment, Haiti and health care are much more deserving of attention.
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 supremecourtus.gov
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Bad news for anyone hoping to keep tabs on the Proposition 8 trial via YouTube: On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a ruling by a federal judge to allow streaming video coverage of the trial contesting the ban on gay marriage in California. The top court’s decision holds only until Wednesday, however, so stay tuned.
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 White House / Pete Souza
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Why did voters in Maine reject a law that would have sanctioned same-sex marriage? Well, according to some marriage equality supporters, one big reason currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and another has to do with conservative scare tactics played out via television ad campaigns.
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 Flickr / gdcgraphics
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The Church of Scientology counts several high-profile figures from the world of entertainment among its members—Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, to name a few—and they sometimes act as public advocates for their religion. However, one of their own, screenwriter and director Paul Haggis, has very publicly left the fold after taking issue with the church’s stance on Proposition 8.
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 Flickr / ingridtaylar
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Although Proposition 8 passed in California last year, setting back the gay marriage cause, the legal wheels are still turning to argue against the measure. On Wednesday, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court refused to stop a challenge to Proposition 8, dismissing the argument that (straight) marriage and procreation are fundamentally linked.
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 Flickr/Phil Romans
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Having enlisted the same PR firm, Schubert Flint Public Affairs, that handled the publicity behind the pro-Proposition 8 push in California last fall, opponents of gay marriage claim to have amassed enough signatures to prevent a new law recognizing same-sex nuptials from taking effect on Sept. 12. A referendum on the issue would be held in November. Back to the voting booth, Mainers.
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The anti-Proposition 8 protests were one form of gay rights activism taking place recently around Los Angeles, but a related issue was the subject of a rally led by former Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Arab linguist who was discharged from the Army National Guard earlier this month for coming out publicly: Choi wanted to remind the visiting president about his pledge to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
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 AP photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
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Bad news for anti-Proposition 8 activists: As of Thursday afternoon, it appeared that the California Supreme Court was hesitant to overturn the gay marriage ban. However, it might be the case that the court will allow existing marriages to remain legally valid.
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 kcbs.com
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California Attorney General Jerry Brown has changed his position on Proposition 8 and has asked the state Supreme Court to nullify the gay marriage ban on grounds that it violates citizens’ inalienable rights as guaranteed by the California Constitution.
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 myspace.com
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Stressing the need “for Americans to come together” even when they disagree about particular issues, Barack Obama responded on Thursday to the outcry over his decision to give Pastor Rick Warren the honor of delivering the invocation at Obama’s upcoming inauguration ceremony.
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The news that Pastor Rick Warren, who opposes gay marriage, will give the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration caused many gay Americans to take offense. NBC’s Ann Curry point-blanked Warren about his politics in Friday’s edition of “Dateline NBC.”
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 filmindependent.org
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On Tuesday, Los Angeles Film Festival Director Richard Raddon officially resigned after being embroiled in a controversy over his support for the “Yes on 8” campaign to ban gay marriage in California.
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Check out the most recent “Morning Review Friday with Roy Ulrich,” where UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses Proposition 8’s current legal status, and Truthdig’s own Titus Levi engages in a fruitful debate on the virtues and pitfalls of a bailout of the auto industry in Detroit with the Cato Institute’s Dan Ikenson.
Posted on Nov 21, 2008
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Not only did Bill O’Reilly play a big part in constructing the notion of an ongoing culture war in America, but he’s determined to be the No. 1 embedded reporter on its front lines. Here, he talks to Newt Gingrich about the recent anti-Proposition 8 demonstrations around the U.S.
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 Flickr/maxintosh
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On Saturday, people took to the streets all around the U.S. to protest the passage of California’s Proposition 8 and to show their support for same-sex marriage. We’ve compiled 40 of our favorite photos from Spokane to Houston to New York City.
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 Flickr/treasurethouhast
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Many of us living in California definitely took notice when the battle over Proposition 8 suddenly heated up and became more contentious in the days before it passed. The New York Times has the story on what happened in that final stretch before the election.
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 The New York Times / Shana Sureck
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In the face of California’s unsettling passage of Proposition 8 barring gay marriage, gay couples in Connecticut are beginning to exercise their equal rights after a final court hearing cleared the way for same-sex unions, ending a long legal battle in the Constitution State.
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